For a Change
by Lonewingwriter
Summary: After seventeen years of waiting for a confession, Orihime got tired and left her best friend to get married with a stranger whom she just met for three weeks. Would she find her happiness or something else? Genre: Mystery, horror (originally intended for Halloween), thrilling romance. Ichihime, Aihime.
1. Chapter 1

**For a change**

**Summary: **After seventeen years of waiting for a confession, Orihime got tired and left her best friend to get married with a stranger whom she just met for 3 weeks. Would she find her happiness or something else?

**Genre: **Mystery, horror (originally intended for Halloween). Thrilling story with hints of romance.

**Disclaimer: **The characters belong to Kubo. I do not own the plot. This is a story I read when I was a little, and the title and the story was in Vietnamese. I tried to find the name of the story in English and its original version but failed. All I knew was that this story was written by Agatha Christie. So is anyone knows this story and its title please let me know so I can put up a proper disclaimer. Thanks.

(11/12/12)

* * *

Orihime smiled as her husband threaded his fingers into her hair and gave her a throughout kiss before taking his leave. Waving her hand as he turned his head again to smile at her before closing the gate, Orihime felt happy enough. Her life was peaceful and pleasant enough.

Happiness sometimes was such a simple thing like this when she said goodbye to her husband before he went to work; sometimes it was the joy when he ate her meal, sometimes it was the coziness when they were cuddling and watching TV together.

Happiness to Orihime Aizen was to have a family, to have someone to take care for, to love and to be loved, something that over the thirty three years of her life she had lacked.

Orihime strolled down to her blooming garden. Involuntarily, her legs led her to a small brush of strawberry. It was not supposed to be in this garden, it was off, out of place, yet she didn't have the heart to plunge it out.

It was the small brush of strawberry that she intended to give to Kurosaki Ichigo as a birthday present two months nine days twelve hours and seven minutes ago but she never had a chance to.

Kurosaki Ichigo was her best friend and coworker for the past seventeen years. Orihime shook her head lightly. He was more than just a best friend and coworker. He was the great love of her life since high school.

Orihime knelt down and brushed the strawberries tenderly with her fingers.

She didn't know how to describe the relationship between her and Ichigo. At first it was just a high school crush which nurtured into an unrequited love since she never had the nerve to confess. Then, when she graduated from high school, she told herself to forget about him and moved on with her life. She went to study in a medical school in Tokyo, deciding to put an end to her one sided love. Fate somehow had other plans for her. Much to her surprise, Kurosaki Ichigo went to study in the same school. Though she had a crush for him, they rarely talked and knew about each other in high school. It was Ichigo who talked and made friend to her first. He found it a great relief to find someone he knew in a sea of strangers the first day of school. As for Orihime, it was the first time she had a decent conversation with her crush, and she realized it was not as scary as she had always thought, talking to someone she liked.

For the next five years after that, they had been best friends. Ichigo had always been there to protect and take care for her. They were inseparable. It was one of the happiest time of her life, for she had discovered the true meaning of friendship. Her feelings toward Ichigo had been intensified but still deeply buried. When she graduated from university, she thought she might never meet him again for he had been offered a scholarship to continue his research in America while she decided to work for a local hospital in her hometown, Karakura.

But much to her astonishment, the first day at work she met him again. It turned out that he turned the offer down and decided to work in the local hospital with the reason that he wanted to be close to his family. Not until years later that she found out the true reason why he had passed such a rare opportunity. It was possible that her feelings were reciprocated or at least that what she thought, for during the last ten years he had rejected so many girls who had much better appearance and quality than her and decided to stick with her through and through. He could have had a family and a lot of kids by now but he rather spent his time with her than to spare a day with another girl. And through those ten years, they have come to understand each others like no one before.

So... though none of them said anything about their true feelings, it was well understood, and the only reason that they hadn't married yet was because Ichigo had to work hard to support his family and spend his twin sisters to the university. Orihime had waited patiently for him, for she knew there would come a day when they would be together, forever.

It was all in the past now.

Ignoring the twist in her chest, Orihime stood up and headed toward another part of the garden.

An event had happened that changed her life and her love for Ichigo dramatically. Almost three months ago, her aunt died and without any children, her fortune went all to Orihime. Overnight, she had become ridiculously rich. Orihime thought that now the financial problems were solved, they just needed to get married.

A tear innocently dropped on her cheek, and she quickly wiped it away.

Ichigo had too much pride and he refused to get any help from Orihime. Instead, he kept the distance and became cold to her. He even applied to another job at another hospital and kept avoiding her. He didn't want others to think that he went for her fortunes, so now the chances that he would ever confess to her reduced to zero.

Heartbroken, Orihime decided to give up on him, this time for real. She was thirty three now, and she wanted to have a family for her own, she could not wait for him forever, hopelessly like this. It was torturing, and she didn't even know for sure if he had any feelings for her or it was all of her imagination.

Soon later she met her husband, Aizen Sousuke, in a party. He had pursued her ferociously, claiming his love for her the way no one had ever done it before. She simply didn't have the heart to turn him down. To be honest, she had been pursued many times before, but... Ichigo had always been there to chase them off, and she had been in love too deeply with Ichigo to ever consider any of her suitors.

Aizen was so different with other men she had met. He was devilishly handsome, utterly

charming, unbelievably intelligent and incredibly persistent in achieving his goal. Without Ichigo by her side, she found no strength to resist Aizen. After losing the first kiss that she had saved for Ichigo for seventeen years to Aizen, Orihime was completely vulnerable in his arms.

Three insanely romantic weeks and they got married.

What Orihime didn't expect was Ichigo's attitude after he got the news. The night before her wedding, he stomped into her apartment, full of rage.

"_You cannot marry someone whom you just met for three weeks." Ichigo said, looking at her accusingly. _

_Anger flooded her body and she said before she could think about it, "So do you think that knowing someone for seventeen years will help?"_

_His face turned pale and he grabbed her wrist, "but you know nothing about him. Do you two even understand each other?"_

_She shook his hands off, "no, I don't need seventeen years to understand someone only to stand at the same point when I was sixteen."_

_Ichigo's voice became soft and desperate, "he could be dangerous. He could target your fortune only. He might harm you for..."_

_Orihime had never felt so angry at Ichigo before, "That's enough. I won't allow you to insult my husband. Not everyone is affected by my fortune like you. He's a wealthy and respectable man, and he loves me for who I am regardless of my fortune. "_

"_I never set an eye on your fortune."_

_Ignoring the hurt in his voice, Orihime said cruelly, trying to hold her tears back, "maybe it's the problem. Please leave." She turned her back away, "please leave, I have nothing more to say to you."_

Orihime shook her head. Why was she thinking about Ichigo now? She had promised herself to forget about him and begin a life anew. Was it the dream that made her remember the past?

Recently, she had a weird dream - a terrible nightmare. It happened for three nights in a row now and it troubled her a lot. In her dream, she opened the door to her bedroom and found her husband dead with Ichigo stood next to the bed. It was obvious that Ichigo had killed Aizen, but the problem was that in the dream she had run into Ichigo's arms, full of joy, like she was truly happy that her husband had died.

Orihime took a sharp breath. It was just a dream, she reminded herself.

She had a good life now, and she was so happy with her husband. They even brought a manor with the most magnificent garden Orihime had ever seen. She fell in love almost instantly with the house the moment her husband took her here. The manor itself was fairly small but modernly furnished, and the garden... the garden as paradize in disguise. There were so many flowers and trees that Orihime could not remember them all. It was so beautiful and refreshing that it attracted a lot of birds and butterflies. Orihime felt like she was in another world when she entered the garden.

Without much hesitation, Orihime agreed to buy the manor and move here to live with Aizen, quitting her job and leaving Karakura.

Since most of Aizen's wealth were tied in reality, he could only manage to get 10 million yen in cash out of 30 million yens the worth of the house, so Orihime had happily offered to pay for the rest.

"Good morning, Orihime-sama"

Startling, Orihime turned her head to meet Kon, the gardener. "Good morning Kon-san. What are you doing here?"

Kon was a young man in his twenties, funny, passionate but somewhat perverted and childish. He was the only one Aizen hired to work in the manor. Since Orihime had insisted to take care of the house herself, there was no maids, but the garden was too big, they had to hire a part time gardener to do the trimming and cleaning every Friday.

"Oh, I'm sorry Orihime-sama, I forgot to tell you that I'll be busy on Friday, so I hope you don't mind if I work today instead."

"Of course not, I'm grateful that you've been taking care of this garden so well all by yourself."

"Thank you, Orihime-sama." Kon said with a blush on his face, "I'm kind of glad that I work today instead since I could say goodbye to you before you're going back to Karakura Town."

"Back to Karakura Town?" Orihime said with great surprise. She never wanted to go back to the city that was full of pain and agony, ever again.

"Yes, your husband said that you two will go back to Karakura by Friday and might never come back."

"That was weird. My husband didn't mention anything about going back to Karakura. Maybe you misheard him."

"Um, I'm pretty sure that was what he said, and it's not just me. He said that to everyone that he met in the village. By the way, I heard that you were ripped off by the old owner of this house. I heard that you had to pay him 20 million yens. That greedy bastard!"

"Who told you that it was 20 million yen? We bought it for 30 million."

Kon shook his head, "As far as I know, 20 million is the best that he can get. Did you give him the money yourself?"

"No, my husband dealt with him the whole time." Orihime's voiced trailed off. It was not the time to doubt her husband. There must be a misunderstanding somewhere. She made a mental note to ask her husband about it later. Orihime quickly picked up her voice, "by the way, Kon, thank you very much for being here today. I'll go and make you something to eat."

"You're so kind, Orihime-sama. Thank you very much."

On the way back to the manor, Orihime saw a small notebook on top of a brush. Curious, Orihime picked it up and flipped through the pages. It was a very detailed notebook writing what to do throughout the days. Orihime smiled. It must belong to her husband. He was a perfectionist who loved organization. He always planned ahead of time and had to do things at the precise moment that he had set. It wouldn't harm to look over the notebook later to see if he hid any secrets. Orihime thought with a smile.

After giving Kon his sandwich and a glass of orange, Orihime lay on her sofa and began to read her husband's notebook. Much to her surprise the first page was on the day they first met.

_Saturday, April 23, 7:30 pm, have a dance with Inoue Orihime at the Ishida's manor._

If she didn't know any better she would thought that it was a diary, not a to-do list.

The notebook was extremely detail and exact to a minute. Everyday he would wake up at five, went for a jog, spent half an hour to listen to the news through radio and another half an hour to read a book, had a light breakfast, and then went to work.

Orihime found herself chuckling as she read something like 'marry Orihime at 9:30 am, May 15," or something like "kiss Orihime at 7:15, before going to work."

So to make sure that this was the to-do-list, not a diary, Orihime flipped through the last page, which was today. It was indeed a planner, for it said he would have a meeting at 9:00 am, then have lunch at 12:00, come back home at 4:00, have dinner with her at 6:00 pm...

Orihime stared at the page. It was weird that the notebook ended at '9:00 pm'. Orihime flipped back to previous pages. There he planned his day until 12:00 pm or at least 11:pm. Weirder, there was a period right after '9:00 pm' like he wanted to end his notebook here.

What did he plan to do at 9:00? Why didn't he write anything at 9:00 and after that? He was a very careful person; there was no way he forgot to write it. It must be done for a purpose.

While she was deep in thought, the phone rang, and the person she expected the least was on the other side of the phone.

"Inoue?"

There was a deep silence and both sides were afraid to break it.

Trying to collect her thoughts and emotion, Orihime said coldly, "Aizen Orihime's listening."

Hurt evident in his voice as Ichigo said softly, "It's me, Kurosaki..."

"What do you want, Kurosaki-kun?"

"You're so cold to me, Inoue. I just want to talk to you." His voice turned soft. "I missed you."

If he knew the effect of the three simple words did to her. It turned her peaceful world upside down. He just needed to say the word and she would give up everything, even the recent happiness...

No. She shook her head furiously. She had everything she had ever wanted. She had a house. She had a family. She had a man who loved her the way no one had ever before. She had the promise of having children...

What she didn't need now was false hope. How long would she have to wait if she were to cling on this light hope? Ten more years? Twenty? Thirty? Would she still be alive until the date came?

Not hearing Orihime's answer, Ichigo said softly, "I hope we're still best friend."

Best friend. Orihime thought bitterly; so at the end that was all she was to him.

"What do you want, Kurosaki-kun?", her voice was dry and icy. She tried her hardest to hold back a tear.

"Um, actually, I'm around Hueco Mundo, visiting an old friend, and I thought why not give you a visit too and see how's your life."

"I'm doing really great, can't be better, really. You don't have to worry about me." Trying to ignore the throb in her chest as his protective voice warmed her colding heart, Orihime said firmly. The last thing she wanted to do was to meet him again. His presence alone had the power to slice through her toughest defense, to mold her world and destroy everything she had worked hard for the last month.

"Inoue...", his voice turned sincere, "please...I just want to meet you, even just for a moment, to see that you're happy, and healthy, and safe."

"I'm not a child anymore, Kurosaki-kun. I can take care of myself."

"I'm sorry." There was a weakness in his voice that she had never felt before. "You must be getting tired of me. That's why you left, isn't it?"

"No. I can't never get tired of you, Kurosaki-kun" Orihime answered as quickly as the guilt began to flood into her body. He was just dead worried about her, and here she was acting all selfish and cold, "I'm sorry. I... I miss you too."

Even just through the phone, she could almost feel the smile on his face and she found herself smiling too, genuinely, out of happiness.

"Inoue, can I come for dinner tonight?"

Tonight. Orihime's mind immediately went back to her husband's notebook. What did he plan at 9:00? Maybe something special for her. Another kind of guilt intruded her; this time it was because of her husband. No matter how she lied to herself, there was a part of her still had feeling for Ichigo, maybe even much deeper than she had ever felt for Aizen. But she was a married woman now, that feeling was forbidden. She should remain faithful, body and soul.

"I don't think it's a good idea. We have plan..."

After a brief pause, Ichigo continued, more desperately than before, "How's about tomorrow's night?"

"I...I-I'll think about it. I'll talk to you later after discussing with my husband. Bye, Kurosaki-kun." Orihime said hastily, quickly hanging the phone up. Her hands were still shaking while putting the phone down. Her heart was pounding fiercely against her chest.

She paced up and down the room. Part of her wanted to meet him, desperately. The more logical part of her was strongly against it.

He was just an old friend. Orihime reasoned. She should tell her husband about it and ask if he wanted to have a dinner with Ichigo. Yes, that was what she should do. She should act as if she didn't have any feelings for Ichigo. In fact, she didn't. She didn't love him any more. He was a chapter of her past. She loved Aizen.

Just the thought of meeting him again, gazing at his warm brown eyes, hearing his deep voice, smelling his manly scent, feeling the way he looked at her so tenderly and full of passion... made her heart leapt up and down. She wanted to laugh at herself. Of course she loved Ichigo. There was only one man who could make her feel this way for the whole thirty three years she had lived.

Orihime stopped her pacing. She decided. No matter how strongly she wanted to meet Ichigo, she would not call him again. She would not tell Aizen about him either. There was a part of her heart that she wanted to keep for herself. Yes, this was the best way, she would not nurture her feelings towards Ichigo, neither should she deny it. It would... fade with time whether she wanted it or not...

Orihime dropped herself on the sofa again, exhausted, confused, and frustrated. Her fingers brushed against the notebook. She took it and looked at it again.

She wondered if Aizen had an affair somewhere... if he had another woman... Maybe that what he planned for the night. He didn't write in the notebook because he was afraid she might read it.

Orihime looked through the notebook again to see if he had had any dates with another woman, like a lunch or a dinner somewhere, but much to her surprise, she was the only woman in his notebook. If Orihime didn't know any better, she would think that this notebook was about her.

Orihime laughed softly. She was over imagined again.

Well, anyway, she would know what he planned for tonight, soon, very soon.

XxXxXxXxXx

Lazily running his hands in her hair, Aizen kissed Orihime carefully, every strokes and touches was precise and planned, exactly the way she would like it, making her body respond helplessly against his body.

"It feels like days since I last see you, Orihime." Aizen breathed against her ears and kissed her again, tasting every last bit of the dinner in her mouth. Orihime found with amusement that his flattery never failed to conquer her heart. Though her logical mind told her it was unwise to fall for sweet words, she knew that she loved to hear them, words that brought her reassurance and belief in the worth of herself.

She found herself yet again weak and vulnerable in his arms. Her body was his to take and control.

Aizen licked her ears seductively and smirked as she whimpered and curled her fists to stop herself from emitting any more sounds. "Orihime, I have a great plan for us today."

There it came. What they would do at 9:00. To be honest, Orihime couldn't wait for it.

"I will bring you to my darkroom. I want to show you some of my latest photographs."

That sounded interesting enough though she couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed. She imagined it was something greater and more romantic. Or maybe his plan with another woman was cancelled and he ended up with a boring plan with his wife. Orihime wanted to shook her head. Why would she think that he had an affair? Was it because her own fluctuation with Ichigo still haunted her and made her conclude that her own husband had a secret lover? That was silly. Just because she had feeling with another man didn't mean that her husband was the same. Still, she couldn't get it off her mind.

"What troubled you, Orihime?"

His ability to read her mind was indeed scary, and Orihime hated to lie, so she answered as honestly as she could, "well, I just wonder if you ever... you know... have another woman...?"

Aizen laughed and looked at her teasingly, "Oh, my dear Orihime, I could never imagine you are a jealous type, but I guess it happens with every wife. It was in your woman nature to doubt and torment your husband with jealousy."

"No, it's not like that." Orihime blushed and quickly defended herself, "it was because you're so...perfect, it was natural to feel a little insecure with you being my husband."

Aizen shifted closer to her and cupped her face, "Orihime, it's true that I have had many women in my life before, but there was only one person that captured my heart."

Orihime felt her heart drop unwillingly, "so who's that person?"

"The one that has auburn hair," his nose touched her lightly, "and the most beautiful pair of gray eyes in the world."

She was lost, completely, in his kiss. All of her insecurities flight away. He might be the biggest woman player in the world, but oddly, she didn't mind if she was deceived by him. She was like the hungry bee fell desperately for the sweetness of the intoxicating honey, knowing the dangerous traps all around it.

As he weaved his arms around her waist, in her fuzzy mind she said something that seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Oh, this morning I just met Kon-san. It's funny because he said that you told him we'd go back to Karakura."

For a moment, the world stood still like the way her husband froze in rage. She found her body shiver, from what she did not know; probably from the way his hands turned cold against the skin of her bare arms. Not just his hands, but his eyes... All the warmth and gentleness in those chocolate orbs disappeared and were replaced by the iciness that was both deadly and dangerous which sent chills into her spine. She stared at his eyes. She never noticed how depth and dark they really were. They were unreadable, distant, heartless even, like the way the executor looked at his victim.

It must be her imagination, for immediately, he smiled at her, warmly and reasurantly, "It must be a misunderstanding, my dear," his fingers rubbed the back of her palms, sending tingles of pleasures all around her body like usual, "for I cannot be more pleased with our present life, and I know...," there was a pause, and Orihime saw an odd wickedness in his eyes that made her wonder if he knew about her past, and... her feelings towards Ichigo, "I know how much that town, Karakura has pained you." He brought her fingers to his lips, "there's no way, I'll make you leave this heaven happiness to go back to that hell of pain."

"It must be a misunderstanding." Orihime laughed awkwardly, "Kon-san might have been misled somewhere. He even insisted that this house must be sold for less than 20 millions yen."

There was a flash of darkness in his eyes again before he smiled gently at her, "then he must be mistaken, my dear." He breathed seductively into her ears, "enough with the small talk," he lifted her up with an abnormal strength that she didn't know he possessed, "I have better plans for us today."

She clutched to his chest shyly as he carried her to their bedroom, "I thought that you want to show me the dark room."

He smirked, "that would be the plan for tomorrow, my dear."

"I thought that you don't like to change plans."

"You're an exception, my dear." He smirked, and Orihime's stomach tinged with excitement, "but no worry, everything is according to plan."

(to be continued)

* * *

**A/N: **This story is fairly long to be in one chapter so I break it into half.

I will post the rest as soon as I'm done with my writing. So the horror part will be presented in the next chapter, LOL. This is my first horror fic, I hope it's ok. Please let me know what you think about this story. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

(11/26/12)

Orihime opened her eyes. The sun must be way above the sky now. The room was bathed in its pleasant light. She felt so light headed after last night.

A blush crossed her cheek.

Sousuke was an amazing lover. No, an amazing husband to be exact...

Orihime turned her body, feeling the softness of her white blanket against her bare skin. Somehow it was still hard for Orihime to imagine Aizen as a husband though he was indeed her husband.

For such a long time, she only drew out in her mind one type of husband, and it was Ichigo. It was the kind of husband who was strong and kind, and honest to the bone; which was so different with Aizen who was charming and intelligent, and sexy to the bone.

It was strange that during the seventeen years knowing Ichigo, Orihime had never once fantasized him as a sexual partner. The picture of a naked Ichigo on top of her was so outrageous that it never crossed her mind. Maybe that she was naive, or maybe that Ichigo was too much of a righteous man that it was difficult to imagine him doing those shameful things to her.

Orihime buried her bright red face into the pillow. Even now, when she was married and sexually satisfied with her husband, knowing all the art of lovemaking, it was still impossible to picture a naked Ichigo.

Ichigo in her heart was different than this. Her feeling for him was above any desire.

Orihime shifted her body. Maybe to her, he was always, and would always be a soul mate, partner for life. Someone who would always be there for her, in good and bad time. That was why until now, she still wouldn't cross out of her mind the type of husband that resembled Ichigo.

Orihime quickly wiped the tears in her eyes. She was such a bad wife. The guilt was growing every single day she lived with her husband when her mind and heart belonged to someone else.

Orihime tried to get up but her body felt heavy. She must be dead tired because of last night. She wrapped the blanket around her bare body. Aizen was too good as a lover, which tricked her mind again about his infidelity. He seemed to have a very good stamina and appetite. She might not satisfy his need. Even if he was faithful to her, she was still interested in knowing about his past and his women. Just to know more about him, she thought. She just felt extremely curious about her husband, and she must know more.

After getting dress and having a light breakfast, Orihime began to search the house for some clues. As a neat and cautious person, Aizen had everything in order, and it was hard to find something he didn't want her to see. In fact, the whole morning searching through Aizen belongings, Orihime couldn't find anything that was suspicious. However, Orihime was sure that Aizen had to keep something of his past around. A person who liked to write his plans in a notebook would have to have some records of his past activities somewhere in his resident.

Orihime came back to her bedroom. There was two possible places that she should search again, one was their bedroom and one was his study room. People tended to hide things from places that were closest and easiest for them to watch over which were also places that were easiest to be missed over by others.

Orihime stood in front of her closet, sighing, after the second failed attempt. She looked at her closet again. She had searched through it so many times, yet her instinct told her that what she was looking for was around there.

There were several drawers under the closet in which she found nothing as of interest. She looked at the drawers again. By design, there was always a fake drawer between the real ones. What if one of those fake drawers was real?

She smoothed her palms carefully over the surfaces of the fake drawers and finally found that above two inches of a fake drawer's handle was a piece of ultra thin plastic with the same color with the drawer that was glued to its surface. She carefully removed it to reveal a hidden lock that was carved deep into the drawer.

Overjoyed with this new discovery, Orihime began to gather all the keys she could find in the house to try on the lock.

After an hour or so, there was no keys that fitted, Orihime decided to give up. It was just a silly game anyway, and chances were Aizen might have taken the key with him to work.

Orihime went to the kitchen and got herself an orange juice to relax. Then her eyes fixed on the key that was in the lock of the cupboard. Aizen always told her to lock the cupboard after use, so she thought it was normal the way he kept the key in the lock all the time.

Something in her mind told her to grab the key and try it on the lock in her bedroom although her logical mind told her that it was highly impossible that the key on her cupboard's lock was also the key of a hidden lock in her bedroom.

XxxXxxXxxXxxX

With shaking hands, Orihime opened the fake drawer. Somehow she felt extremely anxious and part of her really didn't want to open it.

Inside the drawer were several pieces of old newspapers, and at first Orihime thought this certainly was not what she was looking for, but curiosity took over her and she began to read through all of the papers.

They were old newspapers 10 years ago about a man named Kyouka Suigetsu. According to the newspapers, he was a mass murderer who wooed and married rich women then killed them in his basement and buried their bodies inside the walls. The sick bastard then took all their money and used them to bait more victims.

He was a wise and cunning man, and for years although he was highly suspicious, there was no clear evidences to take him to a court, and they could not find the bodies. Finally, a young and brave lawyer at that time, Urahara Kisuke, decided to take a deep investigation and found the bodies inside all the houses that Suigetsu had purchased and lived. He firmly accursed Suigetsu and demanded a death penalty to the court. During court, however, still no further evidences presented proving that Suigetsu was the one who killed his wifes and buried them there. Moreover, his heart condition made the process more difficult. At the end, the court allowed him to stay in the hospital for his heart problems under strict supervision.

After three months, he had disappeared, and no one had ever heard about him ever since, so it was assumed that he had died.

Orihime looked at the young man in the picture. He was a young handsome man, somewhat nerdy in his thick glasses. He looked familiar, especially his eyes. They were deep and intelligent, and there was a hidden darkness in them that reminded her of something.

Orihime startled at the realization, her heart beat fast and hard. They were the same eyes of Sousuke last night. Now that she looked closely at the pictures, Suigetsu was the version of a younger and more naive Aizen. It explained everything.

Orihime gathered all the puzzles and everything was as clear as day. From the quick wedding, to the house, to the notebook, everything fitted. He had planned everything, and she was yet another one of his victims.

He targeted her right from the beginning, the meeting at Ishida's house was his first step to get close to her. Through various means of seduction, he finally got her to marry him, thus legalizing his possession over her properties once she died or was declared missing. Then he persuaded her to move into a house that was far away from her town, isolated her from her friends so that even if she was missing no one over there would be suspicious. He brought the house wholly by her money but made it like he was contributing too. Then he went around and told people that they would move back to their hometown; also made no one here suspicious once they disappeared.

Her heart pounded hard against her chest as she thought of what happened yesterday. Surely he had planned to kill her last night, right at 9:00. Was there any better place than that dark room to kill and bury her there? Her whole body shook in fear. But why did she survive? Why did he postpone his plan? Why didn't he kill her?

Her brain rushed fast to work it out. There might be some clues that would help her to survive once more.

It must be Kon!

If that dear gentleman had not came yesterday, if they had not had that conversation about her not planning to go back to Karakura, if she had not told her husband about that conversation, she would have died for sure last night.

Oh my God. This morning he had left so early. Oh, what that devil would do to Kon, to eliminate the last threat to his plan! She would pray, and pray with her life on it, to God, that he only retold his story to Kon, and would not harm the innocent young man.

But now she had to take action, to protect her own life, for she still wanted to live, for she still had one thing she wanted to do before she die...

Orihime quickly got up from the ground and thought to gather her clothes first, but there was no time. No, she would fled right away without wasting time for anything. There was nothing as of importance in this house.

However, as she got to the kitchen to get out by the back door, she saw the figure of her husband opened the gate and went into the house. He was humming happily with a shove in his hand.

He was so ready for his plan tonight. He couldn't even wait to come home so early in the afternoon.

Chills ran down her spine and her body quivered in apprehension. Be calm, she told herself.

Shakingly, she hurriedly put the newspapers back to the drawer. She locked the drawer and put the thin plastic back. Then she ran to the kitchen and plunged the key into the lock of the cupboard just in time as her husband entered into the room.

Trying to plaster a smile, Orihime hugged her husband as usual, ignoring the disgusting waves running all over her body. She had to act like nothing happened and try to find a way to get out.

"Sousuke, I thought that it would be nice to get out once in awhile. I feel like having some air outside."

"Of course, my dear. I'll go with you."

With husky voice, she said, "It's ok, Sousuke. You're just back from work. I'll go grab some quick food for dinner and enjoy the fresh air."

His arms wrapping around her waist like iron chains tied her to her terrible fate ahead, "No worry, Orihime. I'll go with you." His charming smiled crossed like fire on his brightened face, "I want to spend every minute of my life with you. And beside, it would be unwise for a man to let his utmost beautiful wife wandering around so freely, vulnerable to traps of hungry young men."

She knew that he would not let her go so easily. Now he would watch over her more carefully than ever, like a hungry predatory that couldn't wait to devour his prey wholly.

Indeed, during their stroll over the neighborhood and into the market, his hand had never once left her waist like he was afraid she might run away at any moment, which certainly the truth, for if his grip was not so tight, she would have run off into a big crowd, hiding and trying to find a way to escape. However, she knew better. Though his face was calm and relax, he was concentrating hard to keep her close and make sure nothing happened that could destroy his plan yet again for dinner. She could feel it through the way his muscle tensed against her skin. She couldn't escape even if she tried, for he was stronger, faster, and much more clever than her. Any recklessness now would be the immediate death sentence for her.

So they went home, making dinner, and yet she hadn't found a way to escape. Aizen was setting up the table now, and there was only around an hour and a half left until 9:00. Her hands were sweating now and she had to curl her fingers together to keep her calm. She couldn't die now, she thought while pacing around the kitchen.

She still... Her tear wet her eyes. She still hadn't confessed to Ichigo yet. She still had yet told him about her feelings for the past seventeen years. She still had yet been able to see him again, to see that he was well and healthy. She still wanted to hear his voice again, to see those warm, strong, brave brown eyes once more.

"Orihime, dinner is ready."

Yesterday, Ichigo told her that he wanted to go over for dinner. She could use that. She would lie to Aizen and told him that her best friend would come at any time tonight to visit her. That would scare Aizen and make him delay his plan for one more day. No, Orihime shook her head. He would not wait another day. She could feel it. He was extremely impatient now. Even if she told him her story, he would kill her anyway and then Ichigo too. Her heart throbbed in pain. She had to protect Ichigo. She must not tell him about Ichigo being around Hueco Mundo.

A pair of arms wrapped around her waist and a seductive voice breathed into her ears, "Are you ready for dinner, my dear?" of which she tried to repress a shudder, "I'm so hungry now and can't wait for dinner to end".

After a fairly silent meal, Aizen looked at Orihime with half lidded eyes, full and satisfied, "At 9:00 I will bring you to the dark room like promise."

Gulping, Orihime smiled, "I can't wait."

Aizen placed his hands on her, "After tonight, nothing would separate us. You will be mine for eternity."

He was such a sick mad man. His heart and brain were rotten to the core. Orihime took a quick glance at her watch. It was eight fifteen now. She still had some time. She had to take action and take it quick.

"I'll go and make a phone call."

"To whom?" Aizen asked, his eyebrows knitted together.

"To the butcher. I ordered him some meat, but now I want to cancel it."

Orihime dragged her legs to the phone. There was one thing she wanted to do. To hear Ichigo's voice again before she died. She would overcome all the risks just to hear his voice again.

As Orihime took the phone, for the first time, she noticed that it was a very old fashion phone, probably century old. There was a small button on the handle that allowed her to let the person on the other side of the phone hear a certain part of the conversation. If she pushed the button, the other person could hear nothing. This way she could leave Ichigo a message. Knowing Ichigo, he would quickly sensed the danger and bring someone else with him to the rescue.

Orihime dialed his number and felt the way her heart leapt of hearing his voice.

"Kurosaki Ichigo listening."

"It's Aizen Orihime. I call to leave you a message."

"Inoue?"

Push the button. "It's about the order of 10 pound of meat." Release the button, "It's..." push the button, "nothing" release the button, very urgent. Push the button, "yesterday I told you to," release the button, "come immediately," push the button, "but you said you were out of stock, and today I don't need it anymore. It's not like.." release the button "it's a life and death matter" push the button, "so you don't need to come anymore. Thank you very much." Release the button, "take care."

The fastest Ichigo could come with help was in about 15 minutes. There was thirty more minutes till 9:00. She should be fine. She would be fine.

"It's a very unconventional and innovative message." Aizen said, his eyes followed her every move.

Orihime took a sharp breath. Her weird conversation might catch his attention. She just needed to be calm and stall for more time.

"Do you want some coffee, Sousuke?"

"That would be nice." Aizen said with a half smile. He rested his head lazily on a pillow, lying fully on the sofa. However, Orihime could feel his rush for action by the way his fingers played together impatiently on top of his stomach. This certainly was not a good sign.

Orihime slowly made her coffee; her eyes didn't leave the clock. Every minute was dread to her.

XxxxXxxxXxxxX

Aizen took a sip of her coffee and knitted his brows slightly, "It's sourer than usual." He remarked. Even at this moment, when he was about to take a life, he remained a perfectionist who required the highest quality from those around him. Orihime got a quiver when she thought of his notebook. To him, murdering was a job, to write and plan it like his everyday activity. However, because of his precision over his plan, she still had a slight hope of survival. There was twenty five more minute until 9:00. If Ichigo came in time, she would be safe.

"You know what," Aizen suddenly said, putting the cup down the table, "I think that we should go to the dark room now. Honestly, I can't wait to show you what's in there."

Beads and beads of sweat dripped down her forehead and her hands felt strangely cold.

Trying to suppress the shiver in her voice, Orihime said as calmly as she could, "I thought that you planned it for 9:00, and I know you don't like to change plan. I think it's best that we wait until 9:00. I can wait."

"But I can not." Aizen leaned toward her, his hand gripped her wrist. "I cannot wait to show you. You are so different." His eyes sparked with amusement, "something about you makes me feel uneasy. My body and mind can't rest until I show you my dark room, as soon as possible. Every minute feels like days to me." His voice turned playful, "come on. It will be fun."

"Bu-but... I feel a little bit tired."

"Don't worry. I'll carry you in." He was standing now and ready to lift her with his strong arms.

"Hold on." She said huskily, thinking as fast as she could. "I have something I need to confess. My mind cannot rest until I tell you." Aizen raised his eyebrows. He didn't seem to be convinced and willing to delay his plan for this nonsense, so Orihime quickly said something she knew would pipe his interest, "I have committed a crime."

Reluctantly, Aizen said down, his fingers knitted together, "then do tell me."

Orihime took a deep breath. The suspicious and curious mind of a criminal wouldn't let him to pass her story even as a cost of postponing his great plan. She began to make up a story, baiting for more time, dreading for every second Ichigo hadn't come yet.

"I told you that I worked in the hospital for 10 years, what I didn't tell you was that I haven't been single during those 10 years. I had married, two times. The first time was when I was 23, just began to work at the hospital. My first husband was an old man who suffered from heart attacks. He was ridiculously rich without any children. After one month of marriage, he died, and I was inherited all of his fortunes."

Unconsciously, Orihime fingered the handle of her cup. Inside, her body was shaking furiously, but outside she had to keep her face placid and even somewhat intimidating as her mind working hard for the story. Orihime glanced at Aizen. Though his eyes were close and his fingers were still lacing together in a lazy manner, Orihime could depict from the way his eyes bows moved and his forehead knitted, that he did take great interest in this story. This encouraged her, and her imagination worked wild.

"Five years later. I met another man, much younger than my first husband. A successful businessman with great fortunes. He stayed at the hospital for a light chest pain. For briefly two days that we made acquaintance, he was charmed by me and asked my hand in marriage. After one month of marriage, he died with his wealth transfer to me."

Orihime fingered the handle of her cup again. She had managed to stall five minutes, but she really didn't know where to go next with her story.

Suddenly, her husband said, "you know what? You do that a lot, fingering your cup."

Orihime smiled, her eyes dreamed of to the good old day when she made Ichigo his favorite coffee everyday. "I used to make my husbands a cup of coffee everyday after dinner. They all liked my coffees very much."

Aizen's eyes widened in realization. "The coffee." He cried,"you witches. You poisoned your husbands with your coffee, and you intend to do the same to me. That's why your coffee is so sour." He sprang at her angrily like he would strangle her immediately.

Fear at his ferocious action and too astonished as his interpretation, at first she was unable to move, but then she quickly gathered her sense. She plastered a smile on her face, a smile that she imagined Aizen would make before he finished his victim - a smile of superior, a smile of a winner.

"You are as intelligent as I expected. That was why I chose you. It wouldn't be fun otherwise."

"I will kill you." His iron grip was on her neck, and under its pressure, she felt like her neck was breaking in half. Her vision went fuzzy, and there was only one person appeared in her mind. His smile alone contained an ocean of courage for her to go on. She could not die here, not die like this, by the hands of a disgusting murderer, not being able to see the love of her life for the last time. Somewhere in a distant land she heard his footsteps. She could always sense his presence. He was there, within a minute of her reach, yet she was too weak to stand up and run toward him.

There was so strong an emotion that it trespassed any physical strength. A devotion of a heart that she was willing to take all her life to complete it. Somehow the creature who was strangling her was too pity and weak under that emotion that was built firmly in her stomach and flew furiously like the wind all over her body.

She pushed him away with so strong a force that made him stumble on the sofa. Not letting him recover, she said something with the hope to shock him and stall her more time to run toward the door where she knew her love was reproaching.

"It was too late, Aizen. You could feel it yourself. Your body was weakening. I put in your coffee a substance that quickens the pace of your heart, making you reach the point of heart attack faster. It's extremely fatal to heart patients."

Aizen breathed hard, his hands covered his chest. "You... You wicked woman. You really want to kill me." He raised his hand toward her desperately, "Give me the antidote."

The bell was ringing. Aizen was too much in a dilemma to notice anything.

"There was no antidote." Orihime walked toward the door while Aizen fell on the floor. "Good bye, Aizen."

While she was walking, she still heard his faint voice. "Orihime, good bye. I was in love with you. I really do. I just want to keep you forever. But you win. I'm forever yours."

But Orihime heard no more of his lies as she sprang the door open and fell into the arms of Ichigo with tears rolled like rains on her cheeks.

"Inoue, what happen?"

Orihime pointed at the living room, and the two policemen that went with Ichigo rushed over it.

Orihime turned to Ichigo, and for first time of her life she said his first name. "Ichigo, I have something I always want to say to you."

"Let me say it first."Ichigo said gently, kissing her forehead, "Please let me say it before I lose you again. When you got married, it was the first when I taste what it was like to lose you, to lose you to a stranger. That was when I realize I cannot live without you. I cannot work, cannot eat, cannot do anything but to think about you, about us. But now, just fifteen minutes ago, when you sent me that message, I realized how a fool I really was."

Ichigo kissed her hands and looked at her deep in the eyes, "If I could go back time, I would have knelt in front of you, I would have begged you, I would have done anything to stop you from marrying him, to stop you from the danger of marrying a stranger. How I was so stupid to let my pride take over my head, to let it endanger your life. If anything were to happen you today, it was because of my coward, and I would not live another second in this world without you in it."

Letting her tears ran freely on her cheeks, Orihime put a finger on his lips. "Please do not say so. I will not allow you to say something like that. How I am able to live if you are so willing to die?" She smiled, "this is my turn to say what is in my heart. I am sorry I am so selfish. After tonight, I realized that it is not important that you haven't confessed, it is not important that I have to wait, it is not even important that you love me or not. What is important is that you are here, alive, that I could see you, hear you, smell you," she touched her face, "touch you...love you. I'm willing to wait even for the rest of my life for you. And even if you don't love me, I will still be happy as long as I can watch you and see that you are happy. So don't need to do anything for me, just please, let me be by your side, even just as a friend."

"I love you." Ichigo captured her lips for the first time, and it felt like the first time Orihime was kissed. It was like she was bathed in the sun, and felt nothing but the warmth surrounding her body.

"Please marry me." Ichigo said shakily, but his eyes was firm when he looked at her.

"It's hardly a question."

"It's a beg."

"So I have no choice."

"No, I am at your mercy."

"So how I'm suppose to answer it? It's not even a question."

"So answer it the way you do when you will do someone a favor. Say," his forehead touched her, "of course."

"Of course."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

They laughed a little bit, then Ichigo hugged her again before going to the dining room to see what the policemen would do with Aizen.

XxxxXxxXxxX

It was a blast. It was shocking when Orihime saw Aizen lifeless body laid on the floor with the police secured the scene.

She had ran into his body and swayed him, calling him, asking him to get up, but he didn't.

They said that he died because of a heart attack, too shock and too frightening of something. It was difficult to believe Aizen was frightening of something, it was difficult to believe that he was so believing in her story that his heart could not bear of the thought that he would die. So at the end, even Aizen feared of death. Or maybe it was the guilt, the fear of being revenged by the methods that he had usual so cruelly and frequently that made him believe in her story and killed him.

Even at the end, she didn't hate him. She still cried for him. Maybe she was the only one that would cry for him. He was so lonely, it was piteous.

(The End)

XxxxXxxXxxxX

Author Narration:

Aizen left another huge fortune for Orihime. She sold the house in Hueco Mundo and decided to go back to Karakura with Ichigo.

Ichigo declared that he didn't mind that she was so rich as long as they could be together, so after a long discussion they decided to use her aunt's money give his twins sisters a loan to complete their college, brought a small house with a garden, and save off the rest for their children for college, umh and before I forget... a nice wedding and a long honeymoon vacation traveling to other countries. (really not sure if they have any left to spend their children to college after the honeymoon, but we can hope :)

As for the money that she inherited from Aizen, she didn't spend a penny of it but created a trust fund in the hospital that she worked to help patients with low income and a community fund to help abused women.

In short, they live happily ever after, umh... they live happily until the day they die.

XxXxXxXxX

**A/N: **I know this is not a normal type of Ichihime story since it focuses more on the mystery side of the original story. And... did anyone know the original story yet now that you read the whole story. In the old magazine that I read this story it said this story was written by Agatha Christie, but I'm really not sure.

Anyway, please leave me a comment if you have a time. I don't write for review but it's really encouraging to hear from my readers and know their perspectives of the story.

Thanks for reading everyone.

(*hic* tomorrow is my birthday *hic*)


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